An Examination of Non-Suicidal Self-Injury in Men: Do Men Differ From Women in Basic NSSI Characteristics?

Abstract

Researchers have reported similar prevalence rates for non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) among men and women, yet few studies have investigated gender differences in NSSI. This study describes and compares basic NSSI characteristics among a nonclinical sample by gender. Forty-eight individuals reporting a history of NSSI were interviewed (M = 18.52 years old, SD = 1.18 years). NSSI characteristics, including frequency, age of onset, method of NSSI, pain and control during NSSI, and degree of medical injury were compared between men (n = 19) and women (n = 29). Men and women differed significantly on age of onset, degree of medical injury, and NSSI methods. This study supports previous findings of gender differences in NSSI and suggests that further investigation of gender differences in NSSI is warranted.

Keywords:

• gender differences
• men
• non-suicidal self-injury
• self-harm

Notes

Note. Unless otherwise specified, values in cells represent means and values in parentheses represent standard deviations for variables before transformation. Chi-square tests were used for tests involving ethnicity, history of suicide attempt, and NSSI within past year; all other analyses were conducted using independent samples t-tests. One outlier was omitted from these analyses. NSSI = Non-Suicidal Self-Injury.

∗p < .05.